The Return
by percabethanpuckabrinaforevs
Summary: Hacker has won. In a last burst of energy, Motherboard managed to save Digit, Jackie, Matt, and Inez. Motherboard's few allies have been looking for them. Slider managed to find a Mike, Jessie, Irene, and Donald Chase, but Mike doesn't want to get back into another war. Will Hacker rule forever? Is Cyberspace doomed? This is not good, not good at all! Disclaimer: I don't own this:)
1. Author's Note

**Hey, guys. I've had this idea to write this story for practically forever, but I have no clue if it's a good idea or not. I would really appreciate it if you could read what I have out so far and give me feedback on if I should continue this story or delete it. Please and thank you all so much!**

**I do not own Cyberchase in any way form or fashion – this is going to be my only disclaimer (and probably author's note) for the entire story. Thank you all so much once again!**


	2. Chapter 1

It had been two years since Hacker had won. Everything had changed drastically. No one was the same. Laws (absolutely ridiculous and cruel) laws had been set into place.

No one could question these laws. No one could question the ruler, The Hacker. And no one could speak of those "Earth brats" in a good way. They were still at large, and The Hacker was still looking for them. Anyone who was found to have helped them was being thoroughly searched and then thrown into Bernie's Black Hole.

Everyone was afraid of The Hacker, and wanted him gone. There was no doubt in anyone's mind about that, even though no one dared come out and say it out loud. Therefore, in a small, rural village in the outskirts of Cyberchase, in a little place called Smallsville, no one ever said anything about three new citizens, and their pet bird.

They were a small family, claiming to have been relocated from their previous home by the Great Hacker. Michael "Mike" Chase, his wife, Jessica "Jessie" Chase, and their sweet little girl, Irene Chase, now lived on a farm a while away from downtown Smallsville, with their rather strange little bird, Donald.

Mike finished up checking on the pigs. He paused just before going back into his house, however, and stared up at the sky. It was blue and sunny – almost perfect. It made him smile to think that not even The Hacker could control the weather.

He knew that he absolutely shouldn't, but on days like this, he couldn't help but think back to before The Hacker. He thought back to Motherboard. Mike wondered where she was now. In her last burst of energy, before Hacker had completely forced his control, she'd used her powers to change him, and his friends. Now, he was about twenty years old. If someone passed him down the street, they'd never have recognized him to be who he was.

Motherboard had altered his appearance, but he liked to think that if he had been given time to grow, he would look the same. He was tall now, and muscular. His red hair was fluffier, but still short. He had a splash of freckles across his face, and his skin had tanned nicely from days under the sun. He wore overalls most of the time, although he had a few nice suits for when The Hacker demanded meetings about how wonderful he was. He worked on the farm, tending to pigs, cows, sheep, chickens, and horses.

His "wife," Jessie, had also changed. She was also about twenty years old now. She was just a few inches shorter than Mike, and her black hair had grown out to halfway down her back. She was just the fashionista as ever, although she spent most of her time in simple jeans and a T-shirt. She was the village seamstress, and it seemed like she never had a break. Someone always needed something mended. It brought in extra money, though, so they could pay The Hacker's constantly rising taxes.

Their "daughter," Irene, had changed the most. She was four years old. Mike couldn't help but think that Motherboard hadn't been focusing on what she had been doing too much, or else Irene would be the same age as her "parents." Still, she was definitely a cute kid. Her brown hair curled around her face, and she had lost her glasses, but gained 20/20 vision. She was just as capable as the rest of them as facing what had happened, but Mike and Jessie liked to pretend she was innocent. They liked to pretend that she really was just a little kid.

Last but not least, their "pet" bird, Donald. He flapped around often, mostly playing with Irene. She had been the one to name him after all, and only Mike and Jessie knew the name was after a Disney character.

Mike wiped the sweat off his brow and walked inside the little cottage he now called home. It was purely by accident that they had found it, but since no one really knew what to do with it anyway, the little village was quite content to let them have it.

"Hey, Mike. How are the pigs doing?" Jessie called from upstairs.

"Doing good." Mike replied.

"Doing _well_." Irene corrected from the kitchen.

"Sorry, the pigs are doing _well_." Mike stepped into the kitchen to see Irene and Donald, both eating cookies.

"Hey, you two. Dinner's going to be ready in a half hour." He scolded halfheartedly. "Put those cookies away."

Irene offered him one and he took it. "Well, just make sure you still have an appetite for dinner."

Bribery was usually pretty sweet in this household.

Jessie appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. She'd gotten better at doing that ever since she'd figured out she was going to be a mom. "Put those away! Mike, are you eating one? You are setting such a horrible example."

Mike snorted. "For who? Donald?"

Jessie rolled her eyes and picked up the tin, ignoring Irene's indignant squeal.

"Hey! I was eating those!"

"Well, now you're not." Jessie snapped.

Mike grinned and plopped down next to Irene. Donald fluttered onto the chair beside him. "So, Reeny, what'd you do all day?"

"Don't call me Reeny." Irene grumbled. "I read. You know, like I usually do?"

"Oh, come on. I'll take you to the library tomorrow if I have time." Mike offered. He hated seeing Irene so upset, but she was usually bored all day. She was too young to be of any help around the farm, and too inexperienced to help Jessie sew. She liked to read, but after a while even that becomes boring.

"I wish you guys would let me go to school." Irene whispered. It was a subject she had broached many times, but it always got shot down.

"Oh, sweetie, you know why we can't do that." Jessie sighed softly. She pulled out some dishes and started serving lamb stew, or in other words, dinner.

There was a small school in the village for some children who had the time and inclination to learn. It was completely overrun by minions of The Hacker, and was deemed too dangerous even before stepping into it. Every school in every cybersite was the central station used to communicate with The Hacker, or one of his henchmen, Buzz or Delete. If one got particularly lucky, they might even get to talk to Wicked.

Irene heaved a sigh and hopped off of her chair. "I'm not hungry."

"Sit back down, Irene." Jessie ordered. "You know you're not supposed to eat cookies before dinner. How many did you have?"

"Fourteen." Irene said.

"She's lying; she only had two." Mike rolled his eyes. "You only made, like, twenty, right Jess?"

"Yeah, you're right." Jessie quickly glanced over the remaining cookies and did the math. "You had one, and Donald must have had one, so Reeny only had two."

"Don't call me that." Irene whined, sitting back down.

No one said anything as dinner was handed out. Irene picked at her food, Jessie told her to finish eating it. Donald got his beak stuck in the soup, Mike helped him untangle it. Dinner was usually a quiet affair.

A knock suddenly resounded through the house. Jessie and Mike exchanged a worried glance; who would come around during dinnertime?

Mike excused himself from the table and hurried to answer it.

He opened the door to find a lone soldier, dressed in The Hacker's military uniform. His stomach tied in knots, but he tried for a nonchalant smile.

"Hi, can I help you?"

Then he looked at the soldier's face, and his resolve nearly crumbled. The soldier…this soldier was someone he once knew – someone he thought had died.

"Mike? Michael, who is it?" Jessie called from inside.

She received no answer.

Michael Chase was looking right into the face of twenty year old Slider.


	3. Chapter 2

"I think you'd better come in. I'm Mike, by the way. Michael Chase." Mike hurriedly introduced himself.

Saddler didn't say anything, although his eyebrows crinkled together.

The moment Jessie saw Saddler, she dropped the plate she had been holding and gasped. Luckily, it only bounced a few times, and she picked it up after a moment.

"This is my wife, Jessica Chase." Mike quickly pointed out. "This is Irene, and this is Donald."

Irene was staring at Saddler openmouthed. Mike knew what both the girls were thinking, because he was thinking the same. Was Saddler a traitor?

"May I sit down?" Saddler was asking.

Jessie nodded, Saddler sat down next to Irene, in the chair Mike had previously been in. Irene was obviously uncomfortable. She waited for about two seconds before crawling under the table and sitting down on a chair opposite him. Donald joined her on the chair, and they moved closer together.

Saddler waited until Jessica sat down at the table before leaning back slightly. "I can't believe I finally found you guys."

It was a moment before Mike found his voice. "What are you talking about?"

Saddler looked at him in confusion.

"You can't tell me you don't remember. You know, just before The Great War was won, Motherboard –" His voice quieted down to a whisper. "– sent out her energy to ever ally who would be in danger once The Hacker took over. She told us that the Earthlies were just like us, hidden in different bodies, somewhere in Cyberspace. There was an underground movement, started by myself and Creech, and almost everyone got into it. Now that I've finally found you, we can go back and start figuring out how to defeat Hacker!"

Mike couldn't look at the man he'd once considered his best friend.

"Irene, come on. Let's go upstairs. It's time for bed." Jessie interrupted. Her voice cracked just a little, but she stood up and tugged the little girl's hand.

"What? No!" Irene cried. "I want to talk to –"

She was cut off by Jessie, who had put her hand over her daughter's mouth. "We're going upstairs _now_. Donald, you're coming too."

It was obvious neither bird nor girl wanted to exit the room, but Jessie picked Irene up, which ended the matter for her. After a brief moment of consideration, Donald followed the girls.

"Matt."

Mike's head whipped around. He hadn't heard someone address him by that name since before two years ago.

"My name is Mike, Saddler." Mike hissed. "I don't know any Matt."

Saddler glanced at him. "I know you haven't lost your memory. I can see it in your eyes. You know my name. But what in the world are you talking about? You and I both know your name isn't Mike."

"I think you should leave." Mike stood up. "You don't understand what you're doing. You're kicking up dust where dust shouldn't be. Please stop, and leave my family alone."

"Ma – Mike. What are you talking about? This is crazy! I've spent the last two years looking for you four, and now that I've found you, you're telling me to get out? What's going on? Don't you want to stop Hacker?" Saddler cried out.

Mike was struggling to maintain his composure. "All I want, Saddler, is to survive, and keep my family alive. Don't you see? There are no Earthlies left. There's only one family, and with one little turn of the wind, we could be blown to dust forever. Go, and don't come back. Tell your people that we're dead. The truth is, we are."

Saddler stopped speaking. He searched in Mike's eyes for something. A spark of fire that would tell him what he wanted to hear – that this lonely existence was not the fate that the Cybersquad had resigned themselves too.

When he found nothing, he sighed heavily. His eyes suddenly seemed to age with every passing second.

"Alright." He whispered. "Alright. But Mike…if the Cybersquad ever decide that they want to live again, my door is always open. Just go to Radopolis and ask for Samuel."

Mike met his eyes. "Okay. Okay… Samuel."

Slider nodded curtly once, before stepping back and jogging back down to the street.

Mike shut the door and closed his eyes, trying to calm the hurricane of emotions in the pit of his stomach.

He heard a sound behind him and turned to see Jessie moving toward him. Worry was colored in her dark brown eyes, but she knew not to voice anything.

"Jessie." He heard himself whisper. "_Jackie_."

Her eyes widened at the sound of her name. "Matt?"

He wrapped his arms around her. He could feel her start to crumble in the safety of his embrace. In this horrific nightmare, they didn't even have themselves. They only had each other.

When it had started, Jessie and Mike had been rocks for each other, and both of them together had been an entire island for Donald and Irene. They'd spent many nights not unlike this one, clutching onto each other, crying, and trying not to alert the other two.

Once in a while, Donald would break down. He spoke, in those times, in brief whispers. They knew it was far too dangerous to let him go on for too long, but the sweet relief he would get from just using his voice was almost too cruel to interrupt.

Irene had never had a single break down. Even now, Mike could never remember a single time that she'd cried. Sure, she'd gotten angry, screamed once or twice, but she'd never cried. She had become withdrawn, almost as quiet as the books she read. Irene had almost become her old self when she'd heard about the school and tried to persuade them to let her go. It had broken Mike's heart to refuse – he knew that going to school, having some sort of constant in her life, might have brought back life into the little girl.

Jessie sighed deeply, the tears slowly coming to a stop. She pulled away and buried her face in her hands, trying to wipe at the smearing make up.

"Did you hear what…what Saddler wanted?" Mike asked.

Jessica nodded, and then bit her lip. "Irene did too. She wanted to come downstairs and go with Saddler when you refused. She was livid."

"I tried to pick the option that was best for us." Mike explained. Jessie nodded quickly, and he felt himself relax in relief. At least she recognized what he had done for them. It had been pure torture to turn down his childhood friend like that, and he had a feeling Irene wouldn't be as understanding as Jessica was. "Is she still awake?"

"I had Donald watch her so I could come downstairs." Jessie murmured softly. "Let me go change, and then I'll go check."

Mike went to his room, as well, to throw on pajama pants and an old T-shirt. His room was simple, just the way he liked it. The walls were white, and the bed took up most of the space. His dresser was to the side, parallel with the bed. Beyond that, there was nothing else in the room.

He stepped outside only to bump into Jessie. Together, they walked to Irene's room

Irene's room was simply a girlier version of Mike's room. The bed took up most of the room, but the covers were pink. The dresser was also a pink that matched the bed, and also parallel to it. The walls were white, as well. The only real differences were the two or three stuffed animals, strewn across the room, and the stacks of books that covered both the dresser and all four corners of the room.

Irene shifted when they entered, glancing to see who it was. When she saw, she turned around so her back was facing them.

She was wearing a pink pajama bottom and a purple T-shirt, and Mike had to keep from laughing out loud, because Jessie was wearing a purple pajama bottom and a pink T-shirt.

He eased himself onto the bed next to Irene and put a hand on her back.

"Hey, kiddo. How're you holding up?"

He felt Jessie lie down next to him, and Donald flew over, landing below Irene's feet. He used Mike's legs as a pillow.

Irene still wasn't talking to him, apparently. She put her head on her pillow and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.


	4. Chapter 3

Jessie turned off the lights.

Mike gently picked up Irene and rolled her over, so that she was in between the two adults.

"Come on, Reeny, talk to me." Mike prodded gently. "What's up?"

Irene ignored him and rolled over, so she was facing Jessie.

Jessie sighed and put a hand on Irene's head. "Reeny, please. Tell us what's wrong."

"We can't help you if you don't let us in." Mike added.

Irene continued to ignore both of their pleas. After a moment, Jessie got up and pulled the blanket over the four of them.

"We're not going to leave until you tell us what happened." She warned.

Irene's only response was to turn back to her pillow.

Mike sighed and glanced at Jessie. Both of them were sure that Irene was upset because Mike had turned down Saddler's offer, but until she told them so herself, they couldn't assume. Irene had gotten so withdrawn that Jessie was frightened that she might eventually truly be lost to them. They'd spent days trying to convince Irene to tell them what she was really feeling inside, but the closest either one of them had gotten was the argument over the school.

Jessie felt Donald brush her leg as he pushed his way out of the blanket to breathe. He fluttered up on top of Mike and started to snore.

With a last, final sigh, she closed her eyes and tried to follow his example.


	5. Chapter 4

"Irene, what are you doing?" Donald whispered. It was the dead of night, and Mike and Jessie were fast asleep. He knew he shouldn't have been speaking, but Irene was standing next to the window. Her expression was glass, and he knew as much as a wrong _breath_ could send her flying outside.

Irene turned on him, her chocolate eyes red-hot with rage. "My name's Inez."

"What are you doing? You're going to get all of us in trouble." Donald persisted.

Her face crumpled, and she slid onto the floor. Donald hopped down next to her, and she wrapped her arms around his small body. He was almost as big as she was, he realized.

"We're cowards." Irene whispered softly to him. He could feel the tears running down her cheeks. "I get hiding for a little while, until Hacker stops searching for us. But now? Slider was at our door, Digit! We could be fighting Hacker right now, working to get back home. I miss my home. I know that time's not the same, but people at home are probably wondering where we are, right? It's been years, Dige. I just want to go home. I miss my mom. I want to go fight Hacker and be done with this stupid life!"

Donald smoothed her hair back gently. "Oh, Nezzie. Mike and Jessie just want to keep us safe."

"It's Matt and Jackie, Digit." Irene corrected softly. "Matt and Jackie."

Donald grew quiet, letting the silence descend over them like a warm blanket. Soon, Irene's breathing became even, and he realized that she was asleep.

That was when Mike sat up. Gently, he put his arms around the little girl and brought her back to the bed, tucking the blanket around her and the cyborg mechanically. He moved to the other side and put a hand on Jessie's arm.

She sat up and let him lead her out of the bedroom. He tucked her into her own bed, ignoring her silent sobs. Afterwards, he slipped outside.

The barn was loud and smelly, despite the late hour. Mike sucked in all his breath and punched a stall, yelling loudly. His voice faded into the night, and he plopped down on a stool.

He did something he hadn't done in years, ever since the girls and Donald had needed him to be the strong one. He buried his face into his hands and dissolved into tears.


	6. Chapter 5

It was silent in the Chase household. Mike made breakfast quietly, while Jessie ran out to throw some feed to the chickens. Donald flapped around the house, tidying up some toys and clothes that were left out. Irene was bathing.

When the three of them returned to the kitchen, Mike served cereal.

"After all this time, you'd think you'd learn how to make breakfast." Jessie groaned.

"Cereal is breakfast!" Mike mock glared at her, and she laughed.

The entire scenario seemed forced. Irene watched them with wary, indifferent eyes.

Mike sighed and drained his bowl. "Come on, Reeny. I told you I would take you to the library today."

Irene didn't answer, but she finished her cereal too.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us, Jess?" Mike called out to her.

"Nah, I have a boatload of clothes to finish stitching. Some of these people have no fashion sense whatsoever, and I have to physically keep myself from adding sparkles, or ribbons, or bows, or _anything_ to keep the drab out." Jessie replied. "Donald will keep me company, right Donald?"

Donald winced. He looked like he was ready to make a break for it.

Irene walked back into the kitchen, buttoning up her big blue winter coat. It wasn't cold enough for it yet, but with The Hacker in charge, no one ever knew what the temperature was going to be in a couple of hours.

Mike grabbed his own and waved good bye to Jessie and Donald. Irene was waiting by the front door patiently.

_Just another reminder that she's not another little kid_, he thought to himself grimly.

"Come on, Reeny. Let's get to those books!" He grinned at her, trying to get a reaction.

She barely looked at him.

Irene was hiding inside herself once again. Mike knew that she wouldn't speak to him at all during the trip. He just wished he knew her thought process. How could he help her, if he didn't know what the problem was in the first place?

_Stupid Slider_, he thought darkly. _It's his fault that she's becoming withdrawn. Why did he have to come?_

But in his heart, he knew that Slider wasn't the reason at all.


	7. Chapter 6

The library was big and quiet, and Irene instantly relaxed once she was wrapped in its comforting embrace. Mike moved to sit in one of the chairs lining the wall, while she wandered around the huge bookshelves.

A few books caught her eyes, but she ignored them. She didn't like picking books that didn't seem completely worthwhile to read. If she was at home, she would have gone to the computers and looked up reviews on certain books to gauge other readers' reactions. Now, however, she could only do her best to decide.

A rather dusty book seemed to call out to her. Irene glanced around, but no one was paying too much attention to her. She surged forward and pulled it out.

_A Tale of Two Cities _by Charles Dickens fell into her arms.

A book from home. Irene stared at it incomprehensibly. She hadn't seen titles from Earth in Cyberspace – ever. Every time she came, Irene would ask the librarian if a certain book was in, and the librarian would stare at her in confusion and tell her the book didn't exist.

And now, Charles Dickens was in her hands.

Irene carefully opened up the book and skimmed the first page. The words of home reached out to her and sucked her in.

Mike found her like that, sitting against a bookshelf, absorbed in the book, twenty minutes later.

He took a moment to smile fondly at the girl in front of him. Whenever she read or argued, it was like Inez was sparking up inside of Irene. He missed Inez, more than he missed Irene.

Mike took a moment to review his schedule for the day. He didn't have anything incredibly important to do, so he pulled a chair out and sat near Irene. He'd let her read the book for the rest of the day. If she hadn't already yanked him to the front door, the book was probably not something she wanted to checkout.

Irene finished the book and flipped it over. Her eyes began to droop sleepily. She had gotten almost no sleep the night before, even after she'd broken down in front of Donald, and she still felt drained. Her eyes shut and she slid into sleep.

Mike watched her fall asleep. He waited until he was sure that she wouldn't wake up if he touched her, and then pulled the book from her grasp. He returned it to the shelf and picked up the sleeping girl. She snuggled into his arms. He grabbed her big coat and draped it over her, like a blanket.

"WHERE ARE THEY?"

Mike looked up. At the outside of the library, a huge crowd had formed. Standing at the head of it was _THE HACKER._

He backed up quickly and hid behind a wall, so he could see outside, but no one could see him. He cradled Irene protectively.

"I know the Earth brats are here. I know that you know where they are. Either you tell me where they're hiding, or I'll throw each and every one of you into Bernie's Black Hole, one by one, until I find where they're hiding." The Hacker threatened.

"Please, sir." One woman stepped up. "We have searched far and wide for the Cybersquad. They are not here. They're not in Smallsville."

Hacker paused, as though considering the woman's words. Then, he lunged forward and grabbed her, making the crowd shout out.

Behind him, Buzz and Delete pulled open a curtain, which revealed a cage. The woman was hurled in, screaming.

"You'll be the first to go." The Hacker snarled. He turned back to the crowd. "Find them – or you'll all die!"

With that, he flipped his cape and stormed to the Grim Wreaker.

Mike looked down to see Irene. Her small hand curled around the front of his shirt in barely suppressed rage and frustration. He could see the tears forming.

"That was Miss Gerald." Irene whispered. "She's the teacher at the school."

Mike nodded. He'd recognized her after a moment, too.

"Matt." Irene hissed. Her words were barely making a sound, so Mike didn't reprimand her. "We can't let all these innocent people die just because we're in hiding. You know Hacker's ruthless. He won't stop until he finds us; and he doesn't care who gets in the way. We have to stop him!"

Mike pressed his lips together. He knew what he should say – no, they needed to pick and move out of Smallsville and somewhere safer. But watching Hacker throw an innocent woman into a cage, to be tossed into a black hole, for telling the truth? It sparked a fire within him. Hacker needed to be brought to justice. This had gone too far.

Irene looked at Mike hopefully. He put his arms around her and picked her up.

"Come on. We have to go tell Jackie and Digit that we're taking a vacation. To Radopolis."

Irene beamed at him, the first genuine smile she had given in days.

Mike shook his head. Mike, Jessie, Donald, Irene. Matt, Jackie, Digit, and Inez.

The Cybersquad was back.


	8. Chapter 7

Jackie tensed slightly as they arrived at the Transportation Center. Hacker insisted that anytime anyone travel anywhere outside of their Cybersite, they go through the Transportation Center, so that their names would be on record. As far as anyone in Smallsville knew, they were still Mike, Jessie, Donald and Irene Chase, but they'd always been extremely cautious to avoid any place where the security would take down their names. Now it felt like they were walking straight into the dragon's lair.

Inez's fingers curled around her hand. They'd kept up the charade that they were going to visit a sick relative in Radopolis. They'd packed light, and now were hurrying through the Transportation Center with concerned expressions on their faces.

Matt caught her eye and gave her a reassuring smile.

It felt so good to think about him as Matt.

For so long, she had only been able to refer to her friends as their aliases – she couldn't afford to slip up and say the wrong name in front of the wrong person.

At last, they arrived at the pod that they needed to be in. Matt settled their suitcases on a couple seats and sat down next to them. Digit hopped up on the seat next to him, stretching his wings leisurely, as though he didn't have a care in the world.

Jackie and Inez took seats across from the boys. Inez settled back and began to yawn. It was almost nearing midnight, and she hadn't been getting enough rest recently, Jackie knew.

She looked down at the little girl next to her. Inez's eyes began to flutter closed, and soon she was breathing deeply. Jackie stared down at her fondly, but instead of focusing, she allowed her mind to wander. She tried to remember what Inez had used to look like before she had been thrust into the age of four. It startled her to realize that the image her mind conjured up was fuzzy.

She gazed across at Matt and Digit, and realized that she couldn't remember what they used to look like, either. With a start, she sat up straight. What did she used to look like? What was she liked before she had assumed the identity of a seamstress? She now knew Jessie like the back of her hand, but who was Jackie?

Jackie quickly picked up and Inez and moved to the boys.

"I'm going to use the bathroom; watch Reeny." She ordered. Matt looked at her strangely, as though he knew that she was about to have a panic attack. Nevertheless, the sweet boy merely smiled and took his "daughter."

"Okay, just make sure you're back in ten minutes. We're going to be leaving soon."

Jackie nodded tightly and rushed into a private bathroom. She locked the door behind her and stared at her reflection.

Her black hair was long, and at the moment, severely tangled and frizzy. She knew she was supposed to look as though she'd just stumbled out of bed, to keep up with their story. Instead, she pulled a comb out of her purse and slowly undid the tangles.

With trembling fingers, she reached into her bag and pulled out her yellow scrunchie hair tie. She wrapped her hair around her head and tied it up, so it was in a bun.

Almost instantly, her breathing slowed and she felt herself calm down. The reflection in the mirror almost resembled a girl named Jackie. She stared at herself for a while, looking for similarities between Jackie and Jessie.

Eventually, she undid her bun and let her hair fall free. She washed her face and gave herself a shakily confident smile in the mirror.

Then, she unlocked the door and returned to her family.


	9. Chapter 9

After a long and complicated process to board a space shuttle, Jackie, Matt, and Inez settled down. Digit had been placed in the pet compartment. No one liked being separated, but putting up a fuss would bring too much attention to their travels.

It was excruciatingly slow going. By the second hour, Inez was the only one awake. She had counted the ceiling tiles in the shuttle, walked down the aisle three hundred times, and even stared at other passengers intensely, memorizing them.

Inez was thrilled that they were on their way to rescue Cyberspace from the evil clutches of Hacker. Her body shook with anticipation whenever she thought about it, but also with a little apprehension. She was afraid that after all their time hiding, their skills might be a little rusty. And what would Slider think of them? Who else was with Slider, or was he all alone?

"Irene." Someone whispered. Inez turned to see Jackie, who gave her an admonishing look. "Try to get some sleep."

"I can't." Inez answered back. "I'm too excited…and nervous. Ja – um, Mom, what are we going to do? How do we fix all this? I mean, look at us. We're not anything like what we were back then. And, to be honest, a lot of winning was through luck. What if we're not lucky anymore? What if –"

"Slow down." Jackie replied. "Everything's going to work out fine. First we have to figure out a plan."

"Well, step number one is going to be to find Samuel." Inez offered.

"That's right." Jackie nodded. "After we find him, we'll be able to learn everything we missed and come up with an educated guess.

"A conjecture." Inez said. "Right?"

"Sure." Jackie replied. "And a conjecture is?"

"An estimate, speculation, an idea." Inez explained absently. In her mind, she was already going through scenarios.

"Okay then." Jackie murmured. "Well, let's try to get some sleep. We're going to be going through a lot in approximately…four hours."

"Four hours?" Inez groaned.

"Try for some sleep, okay?" Jackie suggested.

A loud snore suddenly reached them, and the girls looked up to see Matt, fast asleep, with his mouth wide open.

They dissolved into giggles.


	10. Chapter 10

Radopolis was shiny and bright, filled with sunlight that glared down on every dark thing disapprovingly.

Matt was holding onto Digit's "pet compartment," and their few belongings, while Jackie and Inez held onto each other. After situating themselves, Matt walked up to someone walking down the street.

"Excuse me; do you know where I can find Samuel?" He asked politely.

"Sure thing, hon." The woman nodded. "That's his garage right there. He's a doll at fixing up cars, and his girlfriend's mighty good with plants."

"Girlfriend?" Matt's jaw dropped.

"Yeah, Kate, she's such a sweetie. Well, I've got to go, so good bye!"

Matt waved weakly, looking over to Digit.

"Slider has a girlfriend?" Digit mouthed in shock.

"Come on, Mike!" Jackie called.

Matt ran over and pointed to Slider's garage. Within moments, they were standing in front of it. They each took a deep breath, before Matt reached over and knocked.

The door flung open immediately, and a girl with bright blue hair looked at them.

"Matt? Jackie?" The girl whispered. She peered down at Inez and Digit. "Digit? Inez?"

"Creech?" Inez squealed.

"Um, Creech, can we come in?" Matt asked.

Creech blushed. "Oh, yeah, sorry."

As they entered the small garage, it seemed as though nothing had changed. It looked exactly as it had all those years ago, when they had last visited it.

"I knew you would come!" Creech bubbled up in enthusiasm. "When Sl – uh, Sammy told me you refused, I knew that it wasn't true."

Matt's face turned slightly pink. He wondered what exactly Slider had told Creech. He was afraid that when the truth came out, Creech wouldn't be so overjoyed to realize that he had initially refused Slider's offer.

"Sammy!" Creech, well, screeched, into the garage.

Slider seemed to pop out of nowhere. "Yeah, Ka –"

He froze when he saw them. Slowly, he started to grin. "Looks like you guys made it. I was worried for a bit."

"You don't ever have to worry when it comes to us." Inez stated proudly.

Slider grinned at her, but his eyes slipped to meet Matt's. Matt frowned and looked away, down at Digit's compartment. Quickly, he leaned down and undid it.

"Okay, man, what's the plan?" Digit burst out.

"Shh!" Jackie whispered, snapping back to security mode. She turned to Slider and Creech in a business-like fashion. "How safe is it here? How often are patrols? Do we need to use our assigned names? If so, we need to sit down and explain exactly who we are so no one messes up if we ever have company."

"Whoa, Jacks." Slider put his hand up defensively. "This is a safe house. Hacker and his goons raided it immediately after they took over, and haven't been back since. Our spies in the system say that whenever he raids a place, he never returns. It's not a good strategy, but it's good for us. But you're right. We need to know all of our safety names and stories. I'm Samuel, as you know. This is 'Kate.' She's my 'girlfriend,' for the time-being, since neither of us looks enough like the other to be considered related, like brother or sister. What about you?"

"I'm Jessie Chase." Jackie began nervously. "This is my, um, 'husband' Mike, daughter, Irene, and pet bird, Donald. He's a farmer, and I'm a seamstress. We came to Radopolis on the account of a family emergency."

Slider nodded. "Okay. Kate, do you think you can show our guests to their rooms? Mike, do you think you can join me downstairs? I want to show you something."

Matt handed Jackie all of the luggage, including Digit's pet carrier and swallowed down his pride. "Uh, yeah. Sure thing."


End file.
